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Rule 37 of CGST/SGST Rules

What is Rule 37 of CGST/SGST rules?

Rule 37 of CGST/SGST is nothing but the situation that leads to the reversal of ITC when a registered individual with ITC does not make the invoice payment to the supplier within 180 days time period. On either side, if the person can pay a part of the invoice, then ITC will be reversed on a proportionate basis. Let us check out rule 37 of CGST/SGST rules in detail further.

If a registered person who has made use of Input Tax Credit fails to pay to the supplier on any inward supply of goods or services within 180 days from the date of issue of invoice, he or she should provide the details of such supply, the value of Input Tax Credit availed that is proportional to the amount that is not paid to the supplier, and the value or amount not paid. These details should be filled in the FORM GSTR 2 in the month immediately after 180 days from the date of invoice issued.


Why is Rule 37 of CGST/SGST rules used?

There are certain situations where rule 37 of CGST/SGST rules is used. If a registered taxpayer availing Input Tax Credit on any inward supply of goods and services is not able to pay the invoice amount to the supplier within the timeframe of 180 days given in the second provision to sub-section (2) of section 16, he or she would require to disclose the information of such supply including the amount of input tax credit availed proportionate to amount not paid to the supplier and the amount of value not paid. It simply means that the business organizations should maintain the ageing and basis of the creditors on which they need to reverse the ITC.

This process is quite challenging in huge companies as they have to deal with a lot of transactions from different places. Various technologies like accounting or ERP software have been put forward to make this task easy for organizations. It should be noted that the ITC reversal is implied on the basis of the provisions mentioned in Section 16 of the CGST Act.

The invoices of the supplier that are raised between 1st and 3rd July 2017 are not paid within the time limit, Input Tax Credit can be reversed along with interest and the reversed ITC amount should be further divided into CGST, IGST, SGST, and Cess.


Exceptions of GST Rule 37

There are certain exceptions to GST Rule 37 which are given below:

As specified in Schedule I of the Act, the value of supplies created without consideration shall be deemed to have been paid for the second proviso on section 16(2) purposes.

According to the provisions of section 15(2)(b), the value of supplies owing to any amount added shall be deemed to have been paid for the second proviso to section 16(2) purposes.

The amount value of ITC utilized shall be added to the output tax liability of the registered individual for the month in which the supply information is provided.

The registered individual would be responsible to pay 18% per annum interest for the duration beginning from the date of availing ITC on such supplies till the date when the amount is included in output tax liability.

As specified in section 16(4), the period shall not apply to a claim to re-avail any credit that has been reversed before.

In addition, there are several conditions to be applied while availing Input Tax Credit under section 16 of CGST Act, 2017 which are as follows:

Conditions under Section 16(1):

Conditions under Section 16(2):

  • Filing of return
  • Receipt of the goods and/or services
  • Possession of tax-paying document
  • Tax leviable on goods or services supply that is paid to Government

Examples of GST Rule 37 in Different Scenarios

Let us have a look at some of the examples of GST rule 37 in different scenarios given below:

Example1:

Suppose ABC prepared an agreement in consent with a customer. The price of supply decided between the two parties is Rs. 4,00,000 along with GST. One of the expenses of Rs. 60,000 has been incurred by the customer that was needed to be incurred by the supplier ABC. The supplier invoiced the customer Rs. 3,40,000 (4,00,000 – 60,000) along with GST on total value of Rs. 4,00,000.

Ans: As per section 15(2)(b), value of supply = Rs. 4,00,000 (Rs. 3,40,000 + Rs. 60,000)

Actual payment by the customer = Rs. 3,40,000

It will still be deemed that the customer has paid fully to the supplier ABC which means Input Tax Credit reversal is not required as per section 16(2).

Example 2:

Assume XYZ made a contract with ABC. The price of supply agreed between the two is Rs. 1,00,000. The invoice is raised by the supplier is on 12th May. ABC has availed the ITC of Rs. 18,000 (Rs. 1,00,000*18% tax rate) on the same day itself. However, ABC failed to pay the supply amount within 180 days and paid on 9th November after 180 days.

Ans: ABC would need to add the ITC of Rs. 18,000 into the output tax liability in the month back of November along with the interest of Rs. 1598 (18,000*18%*180/365). The interest has to be paid from 12th May (Billing date) to 8th November (date on which ITC amount is added to output tax liability).


How to File Reversal of Input Tax Credit

If you have claimed input tax credit on any inward supply of goods and services, but have failed to make the value of such supply and the related tax due to the seller within the deadline, then according to the GST Rule 37, you shall report any such supply and the sum of input tax credit claimed in form GSTR-2 for the month after the 180-day period from the date of invoice generation.

The sum must be considered to be paid in case where GST is payable without consideration as per Schedule I of CGST ACT – first proviso to Rule 37(1) of the CGST and SGST Rules, 2017.

The sum mentioned above of the input tax credit is applied to the registered person’s output tax obligation for the month in which the details are provided – Rule 37(2) of the CGST and SGST Rules, 2017. The registered person is responsible for paying interest at the rate made aware under section 50(1) of the CGST Act for the period beginning on the date of crediting such supplies. It is valid until the date when the sum added to the output tax obligation as discussed above is paid, according to Rule 37(3) of the CGST and SGST Rules, 2017.

Payment is considered received if the amount paid by the person receiving on behalf of the seller is added to the value for GST payment –

Section 15(2)(b) of the CGST Act, the sum of money which the seller is required to pay in connection with such supply was paid by the person receiving the supply and was not included in the price paid or due for the supply, it is considered to have been received.

Because only the ‘amount’ paid by the receiver on behalf of the provider is included, this cannot encompass free inputs or services provided by the recipient. This would only be true if the provider had a contractual obligation to make such supplies. However, if the sum was a contractual duty of the supplier that was paid on his behalf by the receiver, it will be included in ‘value’ for the purpose of GST payment.

Even though the value of this amount is addable, the recipient will not pay for it. In most cases, if the receiver does not pay, the proportionate input tax credit must be revoked under section 16(2) of the CGST Act. However, it will be assumed that the money has been received in such circumstances. As a result, there will be no need to reverse the proportional input tax credit – the second proviso to rule 37 of the CGST Rules, effective June 13, 2018.

Even though the regulation does not expressly state so, this second proviso should take effect immediately.

Re-availing the credit after payment to the supplier –

The credit of ITC so reversed can be taken after payment is made to the supplier of goods or services or both. The time limit of one year as specified in section 16 of the CGST Act will not apply to such re-credit – Rule 37(4) of CGST and SGST Rules, 2017.


FAQs

Is ITC reversal essential when the recipient makes part payment of consideration and tax within 180 days?

Of course, yes. As per rule 37 of CGST/SGST Rules, the recipient would have to make ITC reversal on a proportionate basis for the part payment of consideration and tax made or can say for the remaining amount unpaid within 80 days.

How can we calculate 180 days for Input Tax Credit reversal?

The duration of 180 days for reversal of Input Tax Credit is estimated from the date of raising the invoice. We cannot take the date of ITC claim/ date of receipt of goods or services into consideration to decide 180 days as they are not relevant.

Is there a need to reverse Input Tax Credit in regards to non-payment of consideration associated with supplies received that fall under the reverse charge mechanism?

The answer is no. You do not need to reverse Input Tax Credit that is already availed in regards to inward supplies received under the mechanism of reverse charge. As per Section 16 of the CGST Act, such supplies that fall under RCM are excluded from the implementation of the ITC reversal provision for non-payment of consideration within 180 days from the date of invoice issued.

Is it possible to re-avail the Input Tax Credit once reversed?

One can re-avail based on the Input Tax Credit once it is reversed by the registered individual for not paying the consideration within 180 days. As per Proviso to Section 16(2), it has been allowed that the registered person can re-avail the reversed ITC once he or she pays the consideration on a later date after 180 days.